Iraq: Violence across the country, including bombings against Shiites, killed 23 people. (AFP)

Israel: PM Netanyahu ordered his housing minister to reconsider construction plans for more than 20,000 homes in the West Bank. (BBC)

Saudi Arabia: Authorities detained more than 20,000 foreign migrant workers in Mecca since the end of a seven month amnesty last week. (DPA)

Yemen: AQAP vowed in an online video to launch attacks against Shiite Houthis in revenge for their assaults on a Sunni community in the north. (Reuters)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: Japan is finalizing a budget for a new command center for cutting-edge research modeled after DARPA to try to tap a broad swathe of civilian technologies with potential military uses. (Reuters)